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Exceptional responders in conservation.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Abstract

Conservation operates within complex systems with incomplete knowledge of the system and the interventions utilized. This frequently results in the inability to find generally applicable methods to alleviate threats to Earth's vanishing wildlife. One approach used in medicine and the social sciences has been to develop a deeper understanding of positive outliers. Where such outliers share similar characteristics, they may be considered exceptional responders. We devised a 4-step framework for identifying exceptional responders in conservation: identification of the study system, identification of the response structure, identification of the threshold for exceptionalism, and identification of commonalities among outliers. Evaluation of exceptional responders provides additional information that is often ignored in randomized controlled trials and before-after control-intervention experiments. Interrogating the contextual factors that contribute to an exceptional outcome allow exceptional responders to become valuable pieces of information leading to unexpected discoveries and novel hypotheses.

Description

Keywords

BACI, conservación basada en evidencias, desviación positiva, evaluación de impactos, evidence-based conservation, exceptional responder, impact assessment, outcome, positive deviance, positive outlier, respondedor excepcional, valor atípico positivo, 前后控制干预(BACI),异常反应, 基于证据的保护, 影响评估, 结果, 正向偏差, 正异常值, Conservation of Natural Resources

Journal Title

Conserv Biol

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0888-8892
1523-1739

Volume Title

32

Publisher

Wiley